Battle of Khe Sanh

The Battle of Khe Sanh (21 January 1968-9 July 1968) was a major battle of the Vietnam War that took place in present-day Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. An American marine base held by 6,000 marines under Colonel David E. Lownds defended the base from an army of 40,000 North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops under General Tran Quy Hai, losing less than 300 men while killing up to 15,000 NVA troops. The battle was the first of the Tet Offensive.

Background
Khe Sanh was the base of the 26th Marine Regiment of the US Marine Corps, located on the border of South Vietnam with North Vietnam. However, it was also a staging area for MACV-SOG (Major Allied Command, Vietnam - Studies and Observations Group) missions into neighboring Laos and Cambodia that involved sabotage, black propaganda, POW rescue, search and destroy missions, and other confidential goals. In January 1968, when the North Vietnamese Army launched the unexpected Tet Offensive during Vietnam's New Year, the US Marine Corps had only 6,000 troops defending the marine base, while 40,000 NVA troops under Lieutenant-General Tran Quy Hai assaulted the base.

Battle
The NVA began the battle with artillery bombardment of the US base itself, hitting the runways and the camp. US troops scrambled to the trenches, where they had constructed several bunkers, sandbag positions, tunnels, and trenches and stored several weapons such as M-14 Carbines, M60s, M-16s, Stakeouts, and China Lakes. The Marines entered the trenches and bunkers and held off fierce NVA human wave attacks, mowing them down with machine-gun fire. After many waves were gunned down, the NVA sent in more troops and Russian T-55 tanks, upping the ante. Marines used LAW missile launchers to destroy the Russian tanks, which nearly overwhelmed the base. The trenches were defended by lines of "Fugassi Mines", which were laced with napalm - when blown up, not only did they cause explosions, but they also set off a line of bursting fireballs that killed many Vietnamese troops. NVA troops were stopped at the trenches by heavy machine-gun fire, but at the same time, they managed to overwhelm several weapons deposits on the US right flank. The crafty SOG soldiers Frank Woods and Alex Mason improvised and cut and kicked napalm barrels onto the NVA Troops that overran the trenches in front of the stores, blowing them up and burning them.

With the NVA assaults almost defeated, the Marines launched an uphill attack against NVA troops that were entrenched on the southeast in a burning forest, where they made another push. The NVA hurled napalm barrels down onto the advancing Marines, but they were eventually killed after a heavy assault by Marines. The Marines then headed to the south, where a hidden NVA division launched an attack with the aid of T-55 tanks. Using a TOW, the Marines destroyed 6 T-55s and the assault was eventually repulsed with the aid of incoming air support. The NVA suffered 2,000-15,000 losses in the attack, while 276 Marines were lost in the battle.